1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a divided connector in which housing component members are divided into a plurality of parts.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a connector used in a wiring of a vehicle or the like, there is a divided connector in which housing component members are divided into a plurality of parts to position a terminal (for instance, see Patent document 1). This connector 500 includes, as shown in FIG. 12, an inner housing 503 to which a terminal 501 is attached, an outer housing 505 to which the inner housing 503 is attached from a rear part and a front holder 507 attached to a front part of the outer housing 505.
As shown in FIG. 13(a), when the inner housing 503 to which the terminal 501 is attached is inserted into the outer housing 505 from the rear part of the outer housing 505, a flexible engaging piece 511 of the outer housing 505 is engaged with a protrusion 509 to regulate the separation of the inner housing 503. When the inner housing 503 is attached to the outer housing, and then, the front holder 507 is inserted into the outer housing from the front part of the outer housing 505 in a main engaging operation, as shown in FIG. 13(b), a fitting hole 513 formed in the front holder 507 is fitted to a front part of a main body part 515 of the terminal 501 so that an end of the terminal 501 may be positioned.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-11-86948
However, since the housing component members of the usual divided connector 500 include three members of the inner housing 503, the outer housing 505 and the front holder 507, when production tolerances of the members are respectively accumulated, a backlash is disadvantageously liable to occur between the components parts. That is, when there is a backlash of δ1 between the inner housing 503 and the outer housing 505, and there is a backlash of δ2 between the outer housing 505 and the front holder 507, the backlash of (δ1+δ2) may be possibly accumulated in the terminal 501 and the front holder 507 at the maximum. In a positioning structure of the terminal in which the above-described cumulative backlash arises, when a tension is applied to the terminal 501 through an electric wire, there is a fear that the terminal 501 may be deformed or unevenness may occur in the position of an electric contact part 517 of the end of the terminal as shown by a broken line in FIG. 13(b). Further, since the terminal 501 is held by a plurality of divided members, a sufficient holding strength is inconveniently hardly ensured.
The present invention is proposed by considering the above-described circumstances and it is an object of the present invention to provide a divided connector which can regulate the position of a terminal by the small number of parts, so that a positioning accuracy and a holding strength may be improved by eliminating a backlash.